AT&T Won’t Pay T-Mobile Subscribers to Switch Anymore

AT&T has ended a promotion to pay T-Mobile customers up to $450 to switch services, stopping the payout offer after less than a month.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere, seen here at a recent conference, was quick to point out the end of an AT&T promotion on Monday.

Reuters

The carriers have been sniping at each other in the wake of a relentless campaign by T-Mobile targeted its larger rival’s customers, a move that has prompted countermeasures from AT&T such as newspaper ads targeting what it criticized as the inadequate size and speed of the T-Mobile network.

The AT&T payoff offer premiered in early January, just prior to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where T-Mobile was expected to—and did–unveil a similar offer. AT&T spokesman Brad Burns said Monday the promotion ended Jan. 31, highlighting that the company had said it would be for a limited time.

Outspoken T-Mobile CEO John Legere had called the original move “desperate” and was quick to criticize the end of the offer on his Twitter account Monday:

“That was quick! @ATT already revoking the $450 bribe to @TMobile customers? People weren’t falling for it, were they #Randall? #doingitwrong”

Legere was referring to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson.

T-Mobile continues to offer people up to $650 to trade-in their phone and switch from another carrier with an early termination fee. As much as $350 of that comes in the form of a gift card, with the rest being a device credit.

The end of the AT&T offer doesn’t mean that AT&T is standing still in the fight for wireless customers. Over the weekend, it cut prices on family plans used by heavy users and continues to offer to give customers a $100 bill credit for every new line they add to their accounts.